WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument ScaRaB

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Instrument: ScaRaB

Instrument details

Acronym	ScaRaB
Full name	Scanner for Radiation Budget
Purpose	Earth radiation budget at Top Of Atmosphere (TOA)
Short description	4 channels, two broad-band, two narrow-band [see detailed characteristics below]
Background	Developed in the French Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique
Scanning Technique	Cross-track: 51 pixel/scan, swath 3300 km - Along-track: 1 scan / 6 s
Resolution	41 km IFOV
Coverage / Cycle	Depending on the platform orbit. Near-polar: near-global daily; low inclination: 2 to 6 times/day depending on latitude (best coverage at 15°N and 15°S)
Mass	40 kg	Power	42 W	Data Rate	3 kbps

Providing Agency	CNES
Instrument Maturity	Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period:	1994 to 2022
Last update:	2021-06-17

Detailed characteristics

Channel	Spectral interval	Noise Equivalent Radiance	Absolute accuracy	SNR
Short-wave	0.2 - 4.0 µm	< 0.5 W m^-2 sr^-1	.......... W m^-2 sr^-1	850
Total radiance	0.2 - 50 µm	< 0.5 W m^-2 sr^-1	.......... W m^-2 sr^-1	1000
VIS	0.55 - 0.65 µm	< 1.0 W m^-2 sr^-1	.......... W m^-2 sr^-1	120
TIR	10.5 - 12.5 µm	< 0.5 W m^-2 sr^-1	.......... W m^-2 sr^-1	60

Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Megha-Tropiques (ISRO)
- Megha-Tropiques (see instrument status) Jan 2012 - Jan 2022
Meteor-3 (RosHydroMet)
- Meteor-3-6 (see instrument status) Apr 1994 - Jan 1996
Resurs Operational - 1 (Roscosmos)
- Resurs-O1-4 (see instrument status) Oct 1998 - Jan 2002

Instrument classification

Earth observation instrument
Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
Broadband Earth radiation radiometer

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 1
Absolutely calibrated broadband radiometers, and TSI and SSI radiometers
Broadband radiometer (for ERB)

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA

Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA*	2 - very high	Information on BRDF needed.	SW and Total (SW+LW) broadband channels, and supporting narrow-bandwidth channels for cloud detection
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA*	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	SW and Total (SW+LW) broadband channels with supporting narrow-bandwidth channel(s). LW computed as difference Total - SW